`Sopranos' Actor Setfor 6th Season

NAMES & FACES

April 19, 2005|By Daniel Fienberg, Zap2It.Com

Ask true fans of The Sopranos and they'll tell you that the last episode of the mob drama aired on June 6. But relief is on the way. In a call with reporters last week, Sopranos co-star Michael Imperioli said production on the show's sixth season will begin April 29.

Before he returns to his Emmy-winning role as Christopher Moltisanti on the HBO series, Imperioli will appear in four episodes of NBC's Law & Order as Nick Falco, a detective partnered with Dennis Farina's Joe Fontana. He first airs on April 27.

Unfortunately for rabid Sopranos aficionados, Imperioli knows only what day he reports for duty. He hasn't seen a script, and he doesn't know when new episodes will air, although he guesses January or March 2006.

Imperioli says he's looking forward to rejoining the cast, but he has never gotten antsy during the hiatus.

"For me, the idea that we're going back is enough security," he says. "It's a luxury to have a sure thing in this business and have so much time in between to do other things."

Given that show creator David Chase decided to extend The Sopranos to six seasons only after determining he had too many story lines for the fifth season, the show's fans know the end is approaching. Chase has been pretty adamant about ending The Sopranos after its next limited run.

"He said that about the fifth season as well," Imperioli says. "They were saying the sixth would be the last, and then I heard, a month ago, that we're gonna do a seventh. Then I heard we're not gonna do a seventh. I don't really know what's happening, to be honest."

In addition to his acting duties, Imperioli has been a steady contributor to the show's writing team. Although he has not received a scripting assignment for the upcoming season, he has an idea of how things should conclude.

"I've always thought the story's going to end tragically -- for all of us," says Imperioli. "I don't think it's gonna be pretty."